1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for delivering fuel and tracking delivery information such as the number of gallons delivered and the identity of the unit to which the fuel was delivered.
2. Description of Background Information
During fleet refueling, a customer will contract with a fleet refueling company to refuel the storage tanks at a given customer site. The storage tanks may be stand alone tanks and/or tanks provided as part of vehicles or machines, such as trucks, cars, construction equipment, generators, and so. As part of this process, the refueling company will track delivery information including the volume and type of fuel transferred into each storage tank, and use the delivery information for accounting and billing and to prepare a customer ticket.
While refueling the storage tanks at a given customer site, the operator will drag a hose from the delivery truck, insert the hose nozzle into the storage tank""s spigot, and actuate a fuel pump to effect the fuel transfer. The operator then manually records, among other information, the storage tank""s identity and the quantity delivered. The operator may not be able to see a volume meter while refueling the storage tank. Thus, before recording each volume amount, the operator will need to return to the delivery truck to view the truck""s volume meter. Some refueling companies mount a small volume display on the end of the hose to save the operator from having to return to the truck each time a delivery volume is recorded.
The operator is responsible for accurately recording the delivery information for each refueled storage tank and each customer site. The delivery information then needs to be reentered into a computerized accounting and billing system. The reentry process is costly, and will frequently introduce errors into the data.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,233 to Burns discloses a method for refueling vehicle (or other) tanks using electronic identification tags, a reading probe, and an on-board computer.
Customer sites and vehicle tanks are provided with electronic identification tags comprising passive ROM devices, each storing identifying information. A portable hand-held digital probe is used to identify a given customer site and individual tanks by reading affixed passive ROM devices. When the operator arrives at a customer site, the operator uses the probe to interrogate the customer site""s passive ROM device. Before refueling a given vehicle tank, the operator uses the probe to touch the vehicle""s passive ROM device and to then touch a passive ROM device provided on the delivery truck to confirm that the operator is using the correct fuel.
After finishing refueling of all vehicles or storage tanks at a particular customer site, the operator will insert the hand-held probe into a downloader of the on-board computer, and transfer the vehicle data recorded in the hand-held probe to the on-board computer. The transferred data is later correlated with volume data recorded by the on-board computer.
In view of the above, the present invention, through one or more of its various aspects and/or embodiments, is thus presented to accomplish one or more objects and advantages such as those noted below.
An object of the present invention is to improve upon systems and methods for fleet refueling and the gathering of refueling data, while simplifying the duties of the personnel involved.
The present invention, therefore, is directed to a system or method, or one or more parts thereof, for facilitating a refueler""s delivery of fuel to a customer""s site with the use of a delivery truck. A delivery hose is used to transfer fuel from the delivery truck to a customer storage tank of a given customer. A hand-held device is used to capture an identifier specific to the given customer. A zero flow of the fuel transferred from the delivery tank to the customer storage tank is sensed. The fuel delivery is associated with the given customer based upon when the zero flow is sensed in relation to when the identifier is captured.
The hand-held device is used to log, in the memory provided within the hand-held device, the identifier and an ID time at which the identifier is captured. A computer provided on-board the delivery truck is used to log, in the memory provided on-board the delivery truck, zero flow indications and respective zero flow times at which the zero flow indications occur. A determination is made as to which of the zero flow times are after the ID time but before a next occurring time at which the hand-held device captures the next identifier. The identifier may identify a particular storage tank of the given customer, while the next identifier may identify either a next storage tank of the given customer or a storage tank of a next customer.
The above-listed and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more fully set forth hereinafter.